The Burnt Woodlands
by waldorbes
Summary: Sequel to The Badger and The Snake.   After the final battle, Susan wants to explore something she had never before, but someone is refusing to allow her.


Susan wasn't sure what had drawn her to the same spot beneath that strong oak tree beside the Black Lake where she had her encounter with Draco Malfoy not a year earlier. The war had finally ended the way her aunt had always said it would have to end - Between Harry Potter and the Dark Lord. If it had been a muggle film, the scene would have been spectacular. The idea of death and carnage was horrifying to the Hufflepuff, but if one were to just look at the physical aspects of what had taken place before her eyes, it was something extravagant to behold.

So what brought her there to sit and watch The Forbidden Forest alone? Because that was exactly what she was - Alone. Sure, she had friends to make sure were still in one piece and adults who felt like they were her own flesh and blood but she didn't care to see them at that moment. She could only continue to stare and watch.

Wisps of smoke continued to pour from the forest that had been deemed 'forbidden' since she was eleven, and she never really knew why. Sure, tales had been told of the horrendous creatures that one would encounter, but had there ever been any physical proof? None that Susan could recall. In fact, anything that had proven itself even remotely dangerous had always been either inside the very castle she had called home or in the rest of the wizarding world.

Standing in her spot, she shot a quick glance over her shoulder. Hogwarts castle still smoked in certain areas and the few hacking coughs that expelled from her form told her that there was still a considerable amount of soot in her lungs. Turning her attention back to the Forbidden Forest, Susan finally made her final decision. She was going to go and explore it before she completely lost the chance to do so.

The blonde shoved her hands deeply into the pockets of her jeans only to find small holes having been ripped into the seams, causing her to sigh. Even her clothing showed that she had clearly just been in a war. She shrugged it off and continued walking. In the back of her mind she thought she had heard her name but who could have possibly been looking for her? She had kept to herself for good reason. She didn't want anyone to come after her or look for her.

Of course she did what she could to still appear that she was born a Hufflepuff, which she believed she truly was, but there was only so much pretending a broken girl could do. She didn't have anyone, and that supposed 'friendship' that she was supposed to have with the self-proclaimed Slytherin Prince had deteriorated as soon as it had been formed. Susan wanted to forget about everything and everyone and just explore. Why was that so hard?

She was a handful of steps away from the edge of the forest when she heard a voice once more, only this time, it wasn't faint. It had been clear.

"Susan!" it said. The voice was deep and exhausted, as if it too had just fought a war. There was something distinctive about the voice however. It sounded defeated and wanting. Turning on her heel, the blonde almost audibly gasped when she saw who had been calling her name. She was careful not to let the noise go noticed however. That was something far from what she ever could have wanted. She allowed the former Death Eater to catch up to her and catch his lost breath. Opening her mouth to speak, Draco beat her to the punch.

"What are you doing? Why are you heading to the Forbidden Forest? Do you have a death wish?"

"Why do you care?" she quickly hissed at him. This visibly snapped Draco to attention. His unkempt blond locks moved curtly as he did. Draco might have not remembered what had happened between the pair, but Susan did.

She had asked for a friendship that could possibly build itself up to become something, but he refused. He continued to corner her in various parts of the castle and tried to desperately push a relationship on her. Now, after a year to watch his actions and the actions of the world around them, Susan determined that Draco did it to try and find some comfort in the arms of someone who could actually care about a person. Susan was fragile, that much was clear, and she could have easily had started to care about the man before her, but she cut it off quickly. After catching a glimpse of the infamous tattoo on his left forearm, she knew that what was going on, wasn't what was truly in his heart.

What Susan didn't know, was that Draco had in fact cared for the young woman.

"Are you honestly asking me such a thing?" he asked, taking a cautionary step towards her. A light brow perked in curiosity. Was he actually worried that if he got to close she would break out into a sprint into the woods? If she did, would he actually run after her?

_Too many damn questions!_

"Are we going to go back and forth asking questions or is one of us actually going to get a proper answer?"

"I asked first. If you want to be proper, you should give the first answer." Her near jade hues rolled around in their sockets in annoyance as her long, pale arms moved across her chest. She could feel the rough patches where she had scratched and cut her skin and where various spells and fires burnt her skin, but that was to be worried about at another time.

"I'm seizing an opportunity before it slips through my fingers. Now, I repeat, why do you care?"

The corner of Draco's lip perked up in disbelief. A scoff moving across his lips confirmed that he couldn't believe she was actually questioning his presence.

"Are you really asking me that?"

"Now who isn't being proper? What _would_ your mother say, Draco?" She didn't give him a chance to answer her. She simply turned around and crossed the border into the dark forest.

She was not in the dark woods a minute before a strong hand took a hold of her upper arm, spun her and slammed her against a thick tree trunk. Hissing in pain, her eyes were slammed shut, not willing to actually look at who had taken a hold of her. If Susan had actually thought about who could have possibly shoved her, she would have gotten the right answer a lot faster than it took for the person who had pressed themselves against her frame to do just that. Their hot breath sizzled against her cool skin and almost burned her.

"Don't ever speak about my mother that way again," Draco commanded roughly. Susan shook herself against his frame, struggling against him.

"Let go of me!" she hollared several times. Her eyes remained closed as she continued to beat at his broad chest that he kept firmly pressed against her. It wasn't easy for the petite girl to physically fight the Slytherin, which was another reason why she preferred to use magic. They were both of age, and she was perfectly willing to duel him just to get him away from her, but it seemed he wasn't.

Draco's hot breath met her ear as he spoke roughly against her. She could tell her was tired, and if she were honest with herself, she was tired as well.

"Stop bloody fighting and just come back to the castle with me. I always cared about you, don't pretend that you don't know that I did. It was exactly one year, two months and three days ago that you crucio'd that squirrel in front of me and changed everything I ever thought about you. You had fight and spunk. What happened to that Susan? I know she's in there, just let her come out."

Susan was fighting a losing battle and she knew it, but what was she supposed to do? She was a Bones, and a Bones never gave up.

"She died a long time ago."

"That's a load of toad shit. She's still in there, fighting to come out. Let her out!" he begged, shaking her against the tree. The badger couldn't take it any longer. Her eyelids flew open and quickly found his lips with her eyes and not too soon after, her own lips. A rough, calloused hand cupped her cheek as plump lips pressed themselves passionately against her own.

Susan was beginning to feel lightheaded and pulled away, only to press her forehead against his. Draco was breathing heavily, just as she was, but his lips still searched for hers.

"Please don't stop," he begged. Susan shook her head.

"I'm trying to catch my breath." Once they both did so, their foreheads remained against one another, waiting for the other to make a move.

"Come home with me, Susan," he whispered against her skin. It didn't take long for her to answer.

"Okay."

* * *

**A/N: **This is my sequel to The Badger and The Snake. If you can decipher the exact meaning of the name first, then I'll write you a fic of your choosing. (: I don't own the characters or the world they live in, just the plot. Read, review, and enjoy! Also, please excuse any possible grammar mistakes. I wrote this in a matter of an hour basically. I just wanted to get it out and written. Thanks again for reading!


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